The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has made Aadhaar-based authentication mandatory for veterans and their dependents to avail benefits under the Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and other welfare schemes of the Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB).Two separate notifications issued earlier this month by the Department of Exservicemen Welfare in the MoD state that the use of Aadhaar number to establish identity will enable individuals to receive subsidies, benefits and services in a convenient and seamless manner, obviate the need for multiplicity of documents to establish identity, simplify processes and promotes transparency and efficiency.Aadhaar credentials will now be required for grant of ECHS membership on retirement, availing ECHS facilities at polyclinics, service hospitals and empanelled Hospitals and for various other functions such as processing of claims related to ECHS beneficiaries, and also for availing financial assistance from the Raksha Mantri Ex-Servicemen Welfare Fund (RMEWF).“An individual desirous of availing of the said benefit under the said scheme shall be required to undergo authentication, or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number,” the two notifications state. “In case such an individual has not been assigned an Aadhaar number, he shall be required to make an application for enrolment,” they add.The expenditure of ECHS and RMEWF is met by the Central Government from the Consolidated Fund of India, the administration of which, under rules, requires beneficiaries to possess an Aadhaar number.The documents also state that in accordance with the provisions of the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016, the KSB, which is part of the DESW, shall ensure enrolment of such beneficiaries who are yet to be enrolled, or update their Aadhaar details through appropriate measures, including coordination with registrars and setting up enrolment centres at convenient locations or providing enrolment facilities by becoming a registrar itself.The notifications, however, make it clear that till the time fresh applicants are assigned an Aadhaar number, they can continue to avail the benefits by establishing their identity by presenting the specified valid documents to which they are entitled to. These include driving licence, passport, ration card, elector’s voter card, matriculation certificate and overseas citizen of India card.The documents also explicitly state that benefits under the said schemes shall not be denied to a child in case of failure to establish his identity by undergoing authentication or to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number, or in case of production of an application for enrolment where he has not been assigned an Aadhaar number.“The benefit under the said scheme shall be given to such a child by verifying his identity and establishing his relationship with his parent or legal guardian in the manner specified, and where benefit is given, a record shall be maintained in respect of the same, which shall be reviewed and audited periodically by the KSB,” it states.Further, in order to ensure that bona fide beneficiaries who are aged eighteen years or more are not deprived of the benefit due to them under the said scheme, the KSB shall follow the exception handling mechanism as specified in the central government’s memorandum of the Direct Benefit Transfer Mission.